Vintage Pen Inspection

[mikeschu]

As some of you may know based on the acquisitions thread, I have a new (to me) Parker 51.



In the interest of potentially creating some good material for the wiki (and also as a consequence of being lazy ), what are the things people need to look at when inspecting a pen? I understand that the nib and the sac will be important, but I would like to know more details and things that have burned others in the past.

As you can see, this one has ink and it writes fairly well. I can't tell if it's scratchy, but that could also be because I'm left-handed and push the pen across the paper. It may need a minor nib adjustment.

 

[celestino]

Very lovely pen, Mike! Congratulations!

 

[nemo]

I look for cracks, gouges, scratches, bent nibs and/or clips, brassing, loose cap bands, and incorrect parts. Whew. Once in the hand I check that the cap screws on tightly, I run my fingernail around the inside of the cap lip to feel for hairlines and splits in the celluloid or plastic (won't happen with a metal cap like yours), and feel the nib tip.

Buy a good loupe, 10X, and learn how to use it -- right up near the eye, keeping the other eye open. Then carry it to antique stores, pen shows, etc.

I usually don't worry about the fill system, I'll be fixing that. Hope this helps.